Originally Posted by Crisis
I say Palestine should just go all out against Israel - LIVE OR DIE. Ar kotodin eivabey thakbey ora? Been years! It's a shame that the whole world just sits and watches and refuses to get involved.

We all know the outcome of that.... its literally a war between ak-47s and f-22 bombers. Even if Palestine and its 4-5 million ppl are wiped off from the face of the earth tomorrow (Allah forbid)... no one can say/do ANYTHING about it. Next day business will resume as usual worldwide...

there are a lot of Palestinians who will choose to die than leave their land (and thats their choice), but I ONLY wish those in that 4-5 million who wish to move to neighboring Jordan/Syria/Egypt/Saudi etc for a chance to LIVE, get that chance.

I knew a Palestinian guy from college whose family moved to either Egypt/Saudi when he was young and when asked about the conflict he said 'Its not a conflict brother, its a take-over and there is absolutely nothing anyone can or will do about it. Atleast my family chose to be practical about it'.

Interesting to note Israel's deployment of this new Iron Dome missile defense system. The IDF claims that it has stopped 70% of the rockets coming in from Gaza. An interesting question would be is it worth the cost? A single Iron Dome interceptor costs $62,000, does it make fiscal sense to use a 62g missile to shoot down a 500 dollar rocket? Assuming 500 rockets have been shot, and 350 have been intercepted. Thats 21.7 million dollars spent stopping rockets that mostly land in empty farm land and fields without causing much damage and even less loss of life. Of course it helps when Uncle Sam foots much if not most of the bill.

BTW, how many are surprised by the fact that 5 days of bombings didn't slow down the rocket attacks at all?

__________________
"And do not curse those who call on other than GOD, lest they blaspheme and curse GOD, out of ignorance. We have adorned the works of every group in their eyes. Ultimately, they return to their Lord, then He informs them of everything they had done." (Qur'an 6:108)

As always, this mindlessly tragic bloodshed will end with a ceasefire at one point or another.

__________________
"And do not curse those who call on other than GOD, lest they blaspheme and curse GOD, out of ignorance. We have adorned the works of every group in their eyes. Ultimately, they return to their Lord, then He informs them of everything they had done." (Qur'an 6:108)

GAZA, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Israel and the Islamist militant group Hamas agreed on Wednesday to a Gaza ceasefire deal, said a Palestinian official with knowledge of Egyptian mediation between the two sides.

The official declined to be named or to give further information.

There was no immediate official confirmation of the news, which came on the eighth day of intensive Israeli fire on the Gaza Strip and militant rocket attacks out of the Palestinian territory.

Obama Spoke With Netanyahu
U.S. President Obama spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the phone.

According to the White House:

Quote:

President Obama spoke to Prime Minister Netanyahu today and reiterated his commitment to Israel’s security.
The President made clear that no country can be expected to tolerate rocket attacks against civilians.

The President expressed his appreciation for the Prime Minister’s efforts to work with the new Egyptian government to achieve a sustainable ceasefire and a more durable solution to this problem.

The President commended the Prime Minister for agreeing to the Egyptian ceasefire proposal – which the President recommended the Prime Minster do – while reiterating that Israel maintains the right to defend itself.

The President said that the United States would use the opportunity offered by a ceasefire to intensify efforts to help Israel address its security needs, especially the issue of the smuggling of weapons and explosives into Gaza.

The President said that he was committed to seeking additional funding for Iron Dome and other US-Israel missile defense programs.

__________________
"And do not curse those who call on other than GOD, lest they blaspheme and curse GOD, out of ignorance. We have adorned the works of every group in their eyes. Ultimately, they return to their Lord, then He informs them of everything they had done." (Qur'an 6:108)

Question: Which country alone in the Middle East has nuclear weapons?
Answer: Israel .

Question: Which country in the Middle East has just recently used a weapon of mass destruction, a one-ton smart bomb, dropping it in the center of a highly populated area killing civilians including children?
Answer: Israel .

Question: What country in the Middle East was cited by Amnesty International for demolishing more than 4000 innocent Palestinian homes as a means of ethnic cleansing?
Answer: Israel .

Question: What country on Planet Earth has the second most powerful lobby in the United States , according to a recent Fortune magazine survey of Washington insiders?
Answer: Israel .

Question: Which country in the Middle East receives U.S. weapons for free and then sells the technology to the Republic of China even at the objections of the U.S. ?
Answer: Israel .

Question: Which country in the Middle East regularly violates the Geneva Convention by imposing collective punishment on entire towns, villages, and camps, for the acts of a few, and even goes as far as demolishing entire villages while people are still in their homes?
Answer: Israel .

Question: Which country in the Middle East routinely kills young Palestinian children for no reason other than throwing stones at armored vehicles, bulldozers, or tanks?
Answer: Israel .

Question: Which country in the Middle East refuses to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and bars international inspections? ?
Answer: Israel .

Question: Which country in the Middle East seized the sovereign territory of other nations by military force and continues to occupy it in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions?
Answer: Israel .

Question: Which country in the Middle East routinely violates the international borders of another sovereign state with warplanes and artillery and naval gunfire?
Answer: Israel .

Question: What American ally in the Middle East has for years sent assassins into other countries to kill its political enemies (a practice sometimes called exporting terrorism)?
Answer: Israel .

Question: In which country in the Middle East have high-ranking military officers admitted publicly that unarmed prisoners of war were executed?
Answer: Israel .

Question: What country in the Middle East refuses to prosecute its soldiers who have acknowledged executing prisoners of war?
Answer: Israel .

Question: What country in the Middle East created millions of refugees and refuses to allow them to return to their homes, farms and businesses?
Answer: Israel .

Question: What country in the Middle East refuses to pay compensation to people whose land, bank accounts and businesses it confiscated?
Answer: Israel .

Question: In what country in the Middle East was a high-ranking United Nations diplomat assassinated?
Answer: Israel .

Question: In what country in the Middle East did the man who ordered the assassination of a high-ranking U.N. diplomat become prime minister?
Answer: Israel .

Question: What country in the Middle East blew up an American diplomatic facility in Egypt and attacked a U.S. ship, the USS Liberty, in international waters, killing 34 and wounding 171 American sailors?
Answer: Israel .

Question: What country in the Middle East employed a spy, Jonathan Pollard, to steal classified documents from USA and then gave some of them to the Soviet Union ?
Answer: Israel .

Question: What country at first denied any official connection to Pollard, then voted to make him a citizen and has continuously demanded that the American president grant Pollard a full pardon?
Answer: Israel .

Question: What Middle East country allows American Jewish murderers to flee to its country to escape punishment in the United States and refuses to extradite them once in their custody?
Answer: Israel .

Question: What Middle East country preaches against hate yet builds a shrine and a memorial for a murderer who killed 29 Palestinians while they prayed in their Mosque.?
Answer: Israel .

Question: Which country in the Middle East deliberately targeted a civilian U.N. Refugee Camp in Qana , Lebanon and killed 103 innocent men, women, and especially children?
Answer: Israel .

Question: Which country in the Middle East is in defiance of 69 United Nations Security Council resolutions and has been protected from 29 more by U.S. vetoes?
Answer: Israel .

Question: Which country in the Middle East receives more than one-third of all U.S. aid to the world yet is the 16th richest country in the world?
Answer: Israel .

Question: Which country in the Middle East had its Prime Minister announce to his staff not to worry about what the United States says because "We control America ?"
Answer: Israel .

Question: Which country in the Middle East signed the Oslo Accords promising to halt any new Jewish Settlement construction, but instead, has built more than 270 new settlements since the signing?
Answer: Israel .

Question: Which country in the Middle East has assassinated more than 100 political officials of its opponent in the last 2 years while killing hundreds of civilians in the process, including dozens of children?
Answer: Israel .

There's a peaceful protest rally in Washington DC this Saturday against Israeli violence and genocide. I plan on attending and encourage others to attend rallies in their respective cities if they can. If we're unable to attend, the least we can do is pray for the oppressed no matter who they are and what part of the world they're from and hate oppression and the oppressors from the bottom of our hearts. It'll keep us sane and human and keep alive the flame that represents whatever is good in humanity...This may not bring a solution today, but who knows one of these rallies may spark the fire needed to lead to events that will eventually bring down the tyrannical regimes, twenty, fifty or a hundred years from now.

Originally Posted by Rifat
my biggest fear is that a day might come, Israel will turn its back on the United States...things can get a lot worse from then onwards(as if it is not bad enough now).

They need the aid from US. Israel needs US more than US needs Israel even though they don't act like it. If US Israel relationships breakdown it will be the best news ever. I would mean US won't veto any sanctions on Israel which they always do.